Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,800 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. This web cam is available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon shining down during the night at times. Plus, during the nights you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise and sunset too… depending upon weather conditions. Here’s the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui – if it’s working.

Light or a little stronger trade winds…with localized daytime sea breezes today through most of Sunday. Here’s a weather chart showing a near 1033 millibar high pressure system located far to the northeast of the islands. At the same time, we see a weak 1015 millibar low pressure system over the ocean to the northeast of the state, moving slowly westward…with an associated trough extending southwest. Here’s a good satellite image showing this low pressure system to our northeast. Light to almost moderately strong trades will give way to slightly lighter breezes into the weekend, as this low pressure area migrates slowly west…getting in between the high pressure cell and our islands. This lighter wind regime, with daytime sea breezes, will rebound into an active trade wind weather pattern by early in the upcoming work week…becoming quite strong and gusty by mid-week.

Trade wind weather pattern will continue, although with a trend towards modified convective weather conditions this weekend.Satellite imageryshows some lower level clouds over and around the islands. At the same time, there’s brighter white high cirrus clouds over the ocean, and over the islands in places too…which will provide a nice sunset this evening. Here’s the looping radar image, showing just a few showers passing by over the offshore waters, with a few over the islands as well. The overlying atmosphere is stable, which will limit showers through the weekend. As our winds remain lighter than usual over the next couple of days, modest showers will fall locally along the windward coasts and slopes…along with a few over our leeward upcountry areas during the afternoon hours in places too. Those clouds will clear overnight, with downslope land breezes leading to slightly cooler than normal early morning temperatures through Sunday. I’ll be back with a few more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday evening film: This time I’m going to see the new one called World War Z, starring Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Anthony Mackie, Julia Levy-Boeken, Elyes Gabel…among many others. The synopsis: On an ordinary day, Gerry Lane and his family find their quiet drive interrupted by urban gridlock. An ex-United Nations investigator, Lane senses that this is no ordinary traffic jam. As police helicopters buzz the sky and motorcycle cops careen wildly below, the city erupts into chaos. Something is causing hordes of people to viciously attack each other – a lethal virus that is spread through a single bite, turning healthy humans into something unrecognizable, unthinking and feral. Neighbor turns on neighbor; a helpful stranger suddenly becomes a dangerous enemy. The origins of the virus are unknown, and the number of infected grows exponentially larger each day, quickly becoming a global pandemic. As the infected overwhelm the world’s armies and rapidly topple its governments, Lane is forced to return to his dangerous former life to insure the safety of his family, leading a desperate worldwide search for the source of the epidemic and a means to stop its relentless spread. / The critics are giving this film pretty good grades, and from looking at the trailer, it definitely looks good enough for my attention, and by the way, this isn’t a light weight film. I’ll let you know what I thought in the morning. World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS

Caribbean Sea:There are no active tropical cyclones

TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

A SURFACE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE IS PRODUCING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER PORTIONS OF THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO. THE TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO MOVE GENERALLY NORTHWARD AT 5 TO 10 MPH OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS TOWARD THE TEXAS AND LOUISIANA COAST. UPPER-LEVEL WINDS ARE NOT CONDUCIVE FOR SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT. THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE…20 PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. REGARDLESS OF DEVELOPMENT…THIS DISTURBANCE WILL LIKELY PRODUCE PERIODS OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS ACROSS PORTIONS OF TEXAS AND LOUISIANA BY SATURDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUING INTO SUNDAY.

CLOUDINESS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE IN ASSOCIATION WITH A TROPICAL WAVE IN THE FAR EASTERN ATLANTIC ABOUT 700 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS. HOWEVER…ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS NOT ANTICIPATED AS THE WAVE MOVES WESTWARD AT 15 TO 20 MPH. THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE…10 PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

ELSEWHERE…TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

Eastern Pacific: Tropical depression Dalila (04E) continues to spin modestly. The present position is over the waters of the northeastern Pacific…located about 435 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Maximum sustained winds were 30 mph, with a movement towards the west at 02 mph. Here’s the NHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image. Here’s what the hurricane modelsare showing for this weakening tropical depression. Due to the close proximity of TS Erick, TD Dalila doesn’t have much of a future…as moderately strong southeasterly vertical wind shear is present above this depression. Dalila is expected to become a remnant low pressure system in the next day or two.

Tropical storm Erick (05E)remains active and is the main threat at the moment, as it’s close to the coast, with storm warnings now in effect along Mexico’s beaches in that area. It is located about 155 miles south-southeast of Manzanillo, Mexico. Maximum sustained winds are 70 mph, with a movement towards the northwest at 09 mph. Here’s the NHC graphicaltrack map…along with asatellite image. Here’s what thehurricane modelsare showing for TS Erick, which will become a hurricane soon.

Elsewhere, tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 48 hours

Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.

I just moved out to the ocean side of Haiku, and boy is it different than being just above Pukalani. It’s much hotter, and the winds have certainly been dead the last few days. That late afternoon sun really cooks. It makes me glad it does rain as much as it does out here!~~~Hi again Amanda, oh, out to the windward side…rather than the lower upcountry slopes in Pukalani. I used to live out in that area, and enjoyed it very much. However, I must say that I like upper Kula even more, although it is much drier…it is much cooler too. Enjoy yourself, and send reports from your new area as you are so inclined. Aloha, Glenn

Nancy~~~Hi Nancy, fabulous, incredible, outstanding…I loved viewing this video – thank you so much! I’m going to bump this up the page, so more folks will have a chance to be inspired by this beautiful aspect of nature, there in the SF Bay area. Aloha, Glenn